R350 will be $150 cheaper

[Reverend]

FRom VoodooExtreme :
Sounds like ATI has an Ace up their sleave: a top dog at ATI has told us that the R350 will debut in march, and as told before will be 10% faster than the FX, but the kicker will be that it's also $150 cheaper. The massive price difference is due to the fact the R350 will be a 10 layer PCB, while Nvidia's fastest will require 12 layers. Graphics wars are gonna be interesting in the coming months to say the least...
With VE viewing ATI as a "VE investor" (their words, and with valid reasons, and I should know during my time with VE recently), I'd view this as almost true and very positive news indeed.

[Fuz]

If this turns out to be true, this really is good news for ATI. What I would like to know though is what they mean by 'bebut in march'? Do they mean anouncement of the R350, or retail availability?

If the R350 is released just after the release of the FX, the prices of the 9700's could drop quite low. 9700 (before they are phased out) would become a mid-range gaming card :shock:

[gkar1]

All i can say is, Wow!
This is exactly what i was looking forward to happen. Us consumers reaping the benefits of a price war with nothing but glee. While getting the best and newest tech.
Competition is good for everyone. And may i give a "Down to those who want to hold back the market with stagnant products and delays".

[Babel-17]

Very interesting. I'm confused on two points though. I thought the difference in cost between 8 layer and 12 layer was less than a dollar and I thought that here in the states it's possible to pre-order the FX for 400 bucks.

Less than a dollar in PCB costs isn't a big advantage, at the high end, imo and I now am wondering if the R350 will be obtainable for 250 bucks. PCB costs could easily be more important if it pertains to lower priced products where the margins are traditionally much tighter ...... 50 cents could represent a huge chunk of the profit for the manufacturer during a price war.

Frankly, I'm confused regarding FX pricing. I had thought it was to be a 500 dollar card (msrp) in the USA and if that was indeed to be the case then the R350 at 350 dollars (msrp) would seem to be able to sell itself.

We shall see. :)

[Johnny Rotten]

I'm really rather skeptical about the price. Not because ATI cant - its obvious to me that the R350 is far cheaper card to produce than the GFFX. No, I'm skeptical because it doesnt make business sense. There's no reason really for them to undercut the FX by that large a margin. All they need to do is come under the $399 price of the FX by $50 or even $100 and they'll have a clear clear winner.

Perhaps the 'info leak' was using those early leaked FX prices of $499MSRP? That would result in the R350 coming in at $50 less than the FX and would make far more sense.

[Tahir2]

Pricing it too far under may make consumers think the product is inferior also.. hey dont shoot me - it happens!

[Slides]

Wondering when I'll be able to get the R9700 for $150. :twisted:

[MfA]

I think they shouldnt undercut NVIDIA too much because of silly consumers who reason according to the "if it is expensive it has to be good" doctrine.

If we had rational consumers though I would expect them to undercut NVIDIA by a large margin ... the high end only makes up a couple of percent of their business anyway, getting as big a piece of the high end pie as possible is important for mindshare. This kind of oppurtunity might not occur again.

[Babel-17]

Hmmm, a good approach in such a case then might be to keep the MSRP on the high side but allow online retailers to offer "bargains" and store merchants to have frequent "sales". Everybody likes getting a deal. :)

[Doomtrooper]

You must look at the overall costs involved with the NV30...

12 Layer PCB
Exotic Cooler
Expensive Ram
Yields

vs. R350

All will be revealed.

[lwells]

You must look at the overall costs involved with the NV30...

12 Layer PCB
Exotic Cooler
Expensive Ram
Yields

vs. R350

All will be revealed.

Not forgetting yeilds either.

[Speculation mode ON]
Nvidia may not being having much fun with yields at the moment, although that is not entirely unexpected with such a new process and product.

ATi, on the other hand, might be getting great yeilds, hence the possibility of a price drop.

[Speculation mode OFF]

LW.

[ConeK]

Well The inquirer has got some pretty close specs, only clock speeds though. And the prizing point told us by voodooextreme is indeed correct. NVIDIA will drop FX prizes, so it's really not a question why R350 will cost some what 100 $ less than FX costs now. My sources will not talk about technology differences between R300 and 350, but still there will be some, that i do know. The interesting question is how ever, that will R350 use DDR2 (GDDR-3) or standard DDR. The reason for this is, that some one from ATI (i don't remember his name) gave an interview and he told that DDR2 is indeed wery expensive at the moment. And that it wouldn't be practical solution for a while, not even in high end.

[Dave Baumann]

http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?topic=4015&forum=9